Cuban government extradites Chinese drug trafficker “Brother Wang” to Mexico

MADRID, Spain.- This October 23, the Cuban Government extradited Chinese citizen Zhi Dong Zhang, alias “Brother Wang”, to Mexico after his arrest in Havana on July 31, 2025, as confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba (MINREX). Later, on the same Thursday, Mexico handed him over to United States authorities, where he faces charges of drug trafficking and money laundering.

In your official statementthe MINREX indicated that Zhang was arrested in Cuba “for the alleged crimes of document falsification and human trafficking” and that his delivery to Mexico responded to “a formal extradition request.” The brief text did not mention the drug trafficking charges against the accused outside the Island.

The Mexican Secretary of Security, Omar García Harfuch, rated your account at X as “valuable” the Cuban collaboration in the capture and delivery of Zhang. Likewise, he confirmed that after his extradition to Mexico the drug trafficker was transferred to the United States, where he is wanted for crimes related to international drug trafficking.

Zhang, identified by Mexican and US authorities as the leader of a network dedicated to the smuggling of fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamines, fled Mexico on July 11, 2025 after obtaining house arrest. Before arriving in Cuba With false documentation, he tried to enter Russia, a country that denied him entry.

Investigations link him to the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel, as well as to laundering operations worth around $150 million. According to reports, its structure used more than 150 shell companies and at least 170 bank accounts to launder money, in addition to a code system: “coffee” to refer to fentanyl and “food” to refer to cocaine.